Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

‘Vyommitra’, the humanoid designed and developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to fly aboard unmanned test missions ahead of the Gaganyaan human space-flight mission, is undergoing pre-flight ground tests at the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU).

About Vyommitra

• IISU was responsible for the design, development, and integration of the robot, while sister ISRO centre Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba here developed its fingers.
• Vyommitra is a female-looking spacefaring humanoid robot being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation to function on-board the Gaganyaan, a crewed orbital spacecraft.
• A humanoid is basically a robot with the appearance of a human being.
• ISRO’s Vyommitra (vyoma = space, mitra = friend) is also being called a half-humanoid since she will only have a head, two hands and a torso, and will not have lower limbs. Like any robot, a humanoid’s functions are determined by the computer systems to which it is connected.
• ‘Vyommitra’, the humanoid designed and developed by the ISRO to fly aboard unmanned test missions ahead of the Gaganyaan human space-flight mission, is undergoing pre-flight ground tests.
• IISU has successfully integrated it with a computer ‘brain’ which enables it to ‘read’ control panels aboard the unmanned test flights and communicate with the ISRO ground stations.
• The AI-enabled robot, which can withstand vibrations and shock during the flight, has been designed to resemble a human with facial expressions and speech and sight capabilities.

ISRO developing a humanoid

• ISRO plans to send a human into space for the first time by 2022.
• It is racing against time to develop a crew module and rocket systems that will ensure the safe travel and return of the Indian astronaut.
• Other countries that have successfully launched humans into space did so after having used animals for conducting tests of their rockets and crew recovery systems.
• ISRO will use the humanoid to test the efficacy of its GSLV Mk III rocket to transport a human to space and back.
• The humanoid is under development at a robotics laboratory at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
• Once flown into space, ISRO’s half-humanoid will be able to test systems in the crew module meant for the survival and safe travel of the first Indian astronaut in 2022.

Activities of Vyommitra

• The activities that Vyommitra will be able to perform, once fully developed for the unmanned flight, will include:
• procedures to use equipment on board the spacecraft’s crew module such as safety mechanisms and switches,
• receiving and acting on commands sent from ground stations
• attaining launch and orbital postures,
• responding to the environment,
• generating warnings,
• replacing carbon dioxide canisters,
• operating switches,
• monitoring of the crew module,
• receiving voice commands,
• responding via speech (bilingual).
• Vyommitra will also report back to Earth on the changes occurring in the crew module during the spaceflight and return, such as heat radiation levels, to enable ISRO to understand the safety levels required in the crew module that will eventually fly a human being.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) bill, which passed a Senate committee 17-4 on May 5, is intended to protect U.S. consumers and businesses from engineered oil spikes.

What is the NOPEC bill?

• The bipartisan NOPEC bill would tweak U.S. antitrust law to revoke the sovereign immunity that has protected OPEC+ members and their national oil companies from lawsuits. 
• If signed into law, the U.S. attorney general would gain the option to sue the oil cartel or its members, such as Saudi Arabia, in federal court.
• It is unclear exactly how a federal court could enforce judicial antitrust decisions against a foreign nation. 
• The United States could also face criticism for its attempts to manipulate markets by, for example, its planned release of 165 million barrels of oil from the emergency oil reserve between May and November.
• But several attempts to pass NOPEC over more than two decades have long worried OPEC’s de facto leader Saudi Arabia, leading Riyadh to lobby hard every time a version of the bill has come up.
• With the Senate Judiciary Committee passing the bill in May, it needs to pass the full Senate and House and be signed by the president to become law. 
• ClearView Energy Partners, a nonpartisan research group, said NOPEC, if introduced to the Senate floor, would likely get the 60 votes needed to pass the 100-member chamber.

Concerns about the bill

• One industry concern is that NOPEC legislation could ultimately lead to overproduction by OPEC, bringing prices so low that U.S. energy companies have difficulty boosting output.
• Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries have some of the world’s cheapest and easiest reserves to produce.
• A wave of oil from OPEC producers, even at a time of concerns about Russian supply could chill U.S. drillers, some of which are already reluctant to boost output despite the cut.
• Some analysts have said that NOPEC could lead to unintended blowback, including the possibility that other countries could take similar action on the United States for withholding agricultural output to support domestic farming, for example.
• OPEC nations could also strike back in other ways.

• In 2019, for example, Saudi Arabia threatened to sell its oil in currencies other than the dollar if Washington passed a version of the NOPEC bill.
• Doing so would undermine the dollar’s status as the world’s main reserve currency, reduce Washington’s clout in global trade, and weaken its ability to enforce sanctions on nation-states.

• The kingdom could also decide to buy at least some weapons from countries other than the United States, hitting a lucrative business for U.S. defense contractors.
• The kingdom and other oil producers could limit U.S. investments in their countries or simply raise their prices for oil sold into the United States – undermining the basic aim of the bill.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles asked the Quality Council of India (QCI) to strive to bring about convergence of all the various quality and standards organizations in the country so that they may work in tandem towards building a world-class quality system in India and make quality a national mission.

The Quality Council of India (QCI)

The Quality Council of India (QCI) is a pioneering experiment of the

Government of India in setting up organizations in partnership with the Indian industry.

• A committee which included various interested ministries and stakeholders including industries were constituted to make suitable recommendations. The work of the committee was coordinated by the then Department of Industries (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) and the recommendations were submitted to the Cabinet in 1996.
• Quality Council of India(QCI) in 1997 as a non-profit autonomous society registered under Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860.
• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry is the nodal department for QCI.
• The Chairman of QCI is appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the industry to the government.
• Quality Council of India publishes a quarterly magazine known as “Quality India“
• Quality Council of India aims to establish an accreditation structure in the country and to spread quality movement in India by undertaking a National Quality Campaign.
• Quality Council of India is governed by a Council comprising of 38 members including the Chairman and Secretary General.
• The Council has an equal representation of Government, Industry and other Stakeholders.

Key Objectives

• QCI has been established to create a mechanism for independent third party assessment of products, services and processes.
• It plays a pivotal role at the national level in propagating, adoption and adherence to quality standards in all important spheres of activities including education, healthcare, environment protection, governance, social sectors, infrastructure sector and such other areas of organized activities that have significant bearing in improving the quality of life and wellbeing of the citizens of India.

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)

• ONDC is in an early stage of formation that been incorporated as a Section 8 company in December 2021 with the Quality Council of India and Protean eGov Technologies Limited as initial promoters.
• ONDC is an initiative aiming at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks.
• The foundations of ONDC are to be open protocols for all aspects in the entire chain of activities in exchange of goods and services, similar to hypertext transfer protocol for information exchange over internet, simple mail transfer protocol for exchange of emails and unified payments interface for payments.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

The first week of October is said to mark the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Basilica of Our Lady of Graces, one of India’s minor basilicas situated in Sardhana in Uttar Pradesh.

It was constructed in 1822 by Begum Samru, a woman of humble origins that came to be popularly known as the only Catholic queen of India.

Begum Samru

• Begum Samru (1750’s – 1836) was a figure that defied any fixed identity. 
• She was a Muslim who converted to Catholicism, a nautch-girl (dancing girl) who became a warrior and an aristocrat, and was described by her contemporaries as dressing more like a man than a woman, sporting a dark turban and ever-puffing away at a hookah.
• She was a shrewd leader who was able to find a favourable position in the ever-dynamic political terrain of 18th century northern India.
• While she had first supported the waning Mughal empire, from the 1790’s the Begum began to provide service to the rising Marathas, before joining the British to ensure that she could maintain her landholding rights if they emerged victorious.
• Some sources claim that Begum Samru, birth name Farzana, was born to a second wife of a poor noblement in present day Meerut.
• In 1767, the teenage-Farzana became the much older Reinhardt’s close companion, and remained so until his death, assuming the role of his wife and became known as Begum Samru.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Graces:

• It is one of the 23 minor basilicas of India, and the only one in the north, after the church was bestowed the status by Pope John XXIII in 1961.
• The architect was an Italian engineer, Antonio Reghellini.
• Completed in 1822, it is commonly believed that the church was built as a replica of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
• The structure consists of a blend of architectural styles, of Indian and Islamic features added to a European cross-plan church.
• The church’s domes lie next to large steeples reminiscent of Islamic minarets, while the central altar contains pietra dura or parchinkari designs that are found in the Taj Mahal and Red Fort.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has summoned Congress leader over his “sycophancy” remark against President Droupadi Murmu.

About the Commission

• It is a statutory body setup in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990.
• The Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI) recommended the setting up of a National Commission for women for surveillance functions, redressal of grievances and to accelerate the socio-economic development of women.
• To review the Constitutional and Legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.

• works on complaints referred to it and can also act suo-moto in several cases to provide speedy justice.
• present to the Central Government, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguard,
• review, from time to time, the exiting provisions of the Constitution and other laws affecting women and recommend amendments thereto
• fund litigation involving issues affecting a large body of women,
• inspect or cause to inspected place of custody where women are kept as prisoners or otherwise and take up with the concerned authorities for remedial action, if found necessary,
• Work on any other matter which may be referred to it by Central Government.

Composition

• A Chairperson, nominated by the Central Government.
• Five Members with expertise in law and issues related to women, nominated by the Central Government.
• At least one Member each shall be from amongst persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively
• Member Secretary must be a central gazetted officer having management and sociological expertise and nominated by the Central Government.
• The National Commission for Women submits all its reports to the Central Government, which is laid before the Parliament during sessions.
• During the investigation of any matter before it, National Commission for Women has all the powers of a civil court.

Achievements

• The Commission prepared Gender Profiles to assess the status of women and their empowerment.
• It acted suo-moto in several cases to provide speedy justice.
• It took up the issue of child marriage, sponsored legal awareness programmes, Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats and reviewed laws such as Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, PNDT Act 1994, Indian Penal Code 1860 to make them more stringent and effective.
• It organized workshops/consultations, constituted expert committees on economic empowerment of women, conducted workshops/seminars for gender awareness and took up publicity campaign against female foeticide, violence against women etc. in order to generate awareness in the society against these social evils.
• The commission regularly brings out a monthly newsletter called “Rashtra Mahila”

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Supreme Court of India has sought the most recent position of the Union government on a batch of petitions challenging the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950, which allows only members of Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist religions to be recognised as Scheduled Castes.

Who all are included in the Constitution Order of 1950?

• When enacted, the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950, initially provided for recognising only Hindus as SCs, to address the social disability arising out of the practice of untouchability. 
• The Order was amended in 1956 to include Dalits who had converted to Sikhism and once more in 1990 to include Dalits who had converted to Buddhism. 
• Both amendments were aided by the reports of the Kaka Kalelkar Commission in 1955 and the High Powered Panel (HPP) on Minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in 1983 respectively. 
• On the other hand, the Union government in 2019 rejected the possibility of including Dalit Christians as members of SCs, rooting the exclusion on an Imperial Order of 1936 of the then colonial government
• It had first classified a list of the Depressed Classes and specifically excluded “Indian Christians” from it.

Why are Dalit Christians excluded?

• Ever since the amendment to include Sikhs as SCs in 1956, the Office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) has been reluctant in expanding the ambit of the Order beyond members of Hinduism or Sikhism. 
• The RGI had cautioned the government that SC status is meant for communities suffering from social disabilities arising out of the practice of untouchability, which it noted was prevalent in Hindu and Sikh communities. 
• It also noted that such a move would significantly swell the population of SCs across the country. 
• However, the amendment to include Buddhist converts as SCs was passed in 1990, which at the time did not require the approval of the RGI — a mandate introduced in the rules for inclusion framed in 1999. RGI said that like Dalit Buddhists, Dalits who converted to Islam or Christianity belonged to different sets of caste groups and not just one, as a result of which they cannot be categorized as a “single ethnic group”, which is required by Clause (2) of Article 341 for inclusion.
• The RGI opined that since the practice of “untouchability” was a feature of Hindu religion and its branches, allowing the inclusion of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians as SCs could result in being “misunderstood internationally” as India trying to “impose its caste system” upon Christians and Muslims.
• It also stated that Christians and Muslims of Dalit origin had lost their caste identity by way of their conversion and that in their new religious community, the practice of untouchability is not prevalent.

Is there a case for inclusion?

• The petitions arguing for inclusion have cited several independent Commission reports that have documented the existence of caste and caste inequalities among Indian Christians and Indian Muslims
• This was substantiated in the 

• First Backward Classes Commission’s report in 1953, 
• The Report of the Committee on Untouchability Economic and Educational Development Of the Scheduled Castes in 1969, 
• The HPP report on SCs, STs, and Minorities in 1983, 
• The Mandal Commission Report, 
• The report of the Prime Minister’s High-Level Committee formed in 2006, 
• A 2008 study conducted by the National Commission for Minorities,
• The Ranganath Misra Commission Report and several other studies.

• In addition to this, the petitions have argued against the proposition that caste identity is lost upon conversion, noting that even in Sikhism and Buddhism, casteism is not present and yet they have been included as SCs.

The above-mentioned reports argue that caste-based discrimination continues even after conversion, hence entitling these communities to SC status. However, the Union government refuses to accept the reports of the Commissions on the basis that these reports do not have enough empirical evidence to support their claims.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

India also produced a record 5,000 lakh metric ton of sugarcane during the October-September season, emerging as the world’s largest producer of the sweetener as well as the world’s 2nd largest exporter of sugar.

• Sugar exports also rose to 109.8 LMT. In sugar seasons 2017-18, 2018-19 & 2019-20, only about 6.2 LMT, 38 LMT & 59.60 LMT of sugar was exported.
• Maharashtra emerged as the highest sugar exporter and producer in India in 2021-22 Sugar Season (SS) exporting almost 60 per cent of total exports in India.
• Supportive international prices and Indian Government Policy led to this feat of Indian Sugar Industry.
• The exports earned foreign currency of about Rs. 40,000 crores for the country.

Factors that led to largest Producer of Sugar:

• Collaborative efforts of Central and State Governments, farmers, sugar mills, ethanol distilleries with very supportive overall ecosystem for business in the country led to this feat.
• During 2021-22, sugar mills procured sugarcane worth more than 1.18 lakh with no financial assistance (subsidy) from Government of India.
• 95% of cane dues have already been cleared.
• In 2020-21, more than 99.9% cane dues are cleared.
• Scheme for Extending Financial Assistance to Sugar Undertakings (SEFASU) and National Policy on Biofuels are two of the government initiatives to support sugarcane production and the sugar industry.

Ethanol Production

• Growth of ethanol as biofuel sector in last 5 years has amply supported the sugar sector as use of sugar to ethanol has led to better financial positions of sugar mills due to:

• faster payments,
• reduced working capital requirements and
• less blockage of funds due to less surplus sugar with mills.

• During 2021-22, sugar mills/distilleries made Rs. 18,000 crores from the sale of ethanol. 
• The ethanol production capacity of molasses/sugar-based distilleries has increased to 605 crore liters per annum. 
• The progress aims to meet the target of 20% blending by 2025 under Ethanol Blending with Petrol (EBP) Programme.
• The diversion of sugar to ethanol is expected to increase from 35 LMT to 50 LMT which will generate Rs. 25,000 crores for the sugar mills,”

Sugarcane Crop

• Sugarcane is grown as a Kharif Crop. 
• It needs a hot and humid climate with an average temperature of 21 °C to 27 °C and about 75-150 cm rainfall. 
• Sugarcane is a water-intensive crop.
• Sugarcane can grow in any soil which can retain moisture, however deep rich loamy soil is considered ideal for sugarcane.
• Top Sugarcane Producing States: Maharashtra>Uttar Pradesh > Karnataka
• It is the main source of sugar, Gur (jaggery), khandsari and molasses.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The 2022 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Carolyn R Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K Barry Sharpless “for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry”

About

• Sharpless was the first scientist to work on ‘click chemistry’ – a branch of science that explores the assembly of molecules.
• Meldal and Dr. Sharpless – independently of each other – presented the copper-catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), a reaction that is now widely used in fields like medicinal chemistry. The CuAAC reaction is an improved form of the azide-alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition.
• Bertozzi improved the field further by developing click reactions that work inside living organisms. These bioorthogonal reactions do not disrupt the normal chemistry of the cell.

What is click chemistry?

• Click chemistry is a functional field where molecules snap together quickly and efficiently – literally like a click. It is defined as a “set of powerful, highly reliable, and selective reactions for the rapid synthesis of useful new compounds and combinatorial libraries through heteroatom links”.

Need of Click Chemistry

• Replicating reactions that involve bonds between carbon atoms – that are vital to the existence of life – is expensive and often leads to side reactions and loss of material.
• Instead of trying to make carbon atoms react with each other, Dr. Sharpless’s research focuses on using smaller molecules that already have a complete carbon frame. These molecules can further be linked using oxygen or nitrogen atoms as bridges.
• Simpler reactions, “where there is a strong intrinsic drive for the molecules to bond together”, may avoid the loss of material as well as the unwanted side reactions.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

President Murmu launches startup platform ‘herStart’ for women entrepreneurs which is an initiative of the Gujarat University. 

• The initiative of Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council aims at supporting women-led startups. 
• The platform has been launched with the aim that it will not only boost innovation and start-up efforts of women entrepreneurs but also help them connect with government as well as private enterprises.
• Through this platform, free resources and training modules free will be provided to aspiring women entrepreneurs. 
• It will build a digital community and also a digital publication to spread their success stories.
• The Platform encompasses the herSTART Incubator, a dedicated full-fledged Startup incubator for women entrepreneurs and innovators, and the herSTART Accelerator, a round-the-year accelerator programme for high-impact women-led startups.
• Gujarat is the first state in the country to form the Garima Cell with the aim of giving new energy and direction to the higher education system of the state.
• Employment generation: through 450 Startup projects operational in Gujarat University. Of these, 125 startups specially inspired by entrepreneurial women are giving a new direction to the entrepreneurship and innovative ideas in women.
• India has moved from 81st position to 40th position in the Global Innovation Index (GII) of 2022 as a result of the Startup program.
• Reduction in the drop-out rate among the students of the tribal community due to Vanabandhu Kalyan Yojana, Eklavya Model Residential School and Kanya Nivasi Shala.
• Real-time monitoring of the education system of more than 55,000 schools in the state by the Vidya Review Centre.
• Upgrading the infrastructure of about 20,000 schools of the state through Mission School of Excellence.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The European Union (EU) has given final approval to online safety-focused legislation, which is an overhaul of the region’s social media and e-commerce rules.

About

• Called the Digital Services Act (DSA), the law tightly regulates the way intermediaries, especially large platforms such as Google, Meta, Twitter, and YouTube, function in terms of moderating user content.
• It will give better protection to users and to fundamental rights online, establish a powerful transparency and accountability framework for online platforms and provide a single, uniform framework across the EU.

Key features of the Digital Services Act

• Faster removals and provisions to challenge: The social media companies will have to add “new procedures for faster removal” of content deemed illegal or harmful. They will also have to explain to users how their content takedown policy works. It also allows for users to challenge takedown decisions taken by platforms and seek out-of-court settlements.
• Bigger platforms have greater responsibility: Under the DSA, ‘Very Large Online Platforms’ (VLOPs) and ‘Very Large Online Search Engines’ (VLOSEs), that is platforms, having more than 45 million users in the EU, will have more stringent requirements.
• Direct supervision by European Commission: These requirements and their enforcement will be centrally supervised by the European Commission itself.
• More transparency on how algorithms work: VLOPs and VLOSEs will face transparency measures and scrutiny of how their algorithms work.
• Clearer identifiers for ads and who’s paying for them: Online platforms must ensure that users can easily identify advertisements and understand who presents or pays for the advertisement. They must not display personalised advertising directed towards minors or based on sensitive personal data.

Significance

• It will give better protection to users and to fundamental rights online, establish a powerful transparency and accountability framework for online platforms and provide a single, uniform framework across the EU.
• More transparency on how algorithms work: VLOPs and VLOSEs will face transparency measures and scrutiny of how their algorithms work
• Systemic risk analysis by social media companies will drive accountability about the society impacts of their products.